health
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New Year’s Day is supposed to feel like a beginning.January 1 arrives with confetti and expectations—a collective agreement that we get to start over. My body did not get the memo. Parkinson’s doesn’t pause for fireworks or make resolutions at midnight. It doesn’t care what year it is. It measures time differently—by symptoms, by medication…
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Everyone wants a picture-perfect Hallmark movie Christmas, right? The house decorated inside and out, ready to win the neighborhood light-display prize. Right?But what we conveniently forget are the parts of the movie where the main couple has a dramatic breakup, or Grandma gets rushed to the hospital because she’s winded and everyone fears her heart…
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There’s nothing like a late-night visit to the ER to make you realize you’ve accumulated quite an extensive inventory of ailments, conditions, and diseases. This time, I went because of a surprise anaphylactic reaction to Penicillin VK. It had been prescribed to knock out whatever was causing my constant sore throat, cough, and laryngitis. I’d…
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If you live with Parkinson’s, please hear me: do not take Benadryl.A few days ago, I had a massive, all-over itchiness that drove me crazy. Triple-digit heat had left me with a case of prickly heat, and I couldn’t stop scratching. My scalp itched so badly I tried using dandruff shampoo just for some relief.…
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So I dance. Not gracefully. Not even with confidence. But I shift my weight back and forth between two emotional poles, caught between caring too much and not caring at all. Some days, it feels like the worst of both worlds.
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Dear Friend, You didn’t ask for this. None of us did. But here you are—with a diagnosis that changes everything and nothing at once. And you told me. That matters more than I can say. I know how hard that moment can be—the words sticking in your throat, the fear of how it might land.…
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Apparently, the non-Parkinson’s part of my brain didn’t get the notice that the Parkinson’s part of my brain isn’t exactly reliable these days. Ideas still pop up before I can stop them—like a reflex, or maybe like a dog spotting a squirrel. The problem is, once I throw out an idea, people assume I’m signing…
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The question “How are you?” might seem like a casual greeting, but for those of us with Parkinson’s, it’s a bit like being asked to sum up an entire movie plot in one sentence—complicated, unpredictable, and loaded with twists. When I say “I’m fine” or “okay,” it’s not a complete truth, but it’s also not…
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Thanksgiving is upon us and soon many families and friends will participate in a tradition of announcing what they are thankful for this year. But many people have a hard time with this concept because they have truly had a hard time with their lives lately. Chronic Illness is a tough thing to ignore at…
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Parkinson’s disease (PD) has many symptoms. Now in my sixth year of having PD I sometimes look at these symptoms as if they are milestones on a checklist.
I have Parkinson's. Parkinson's doesn't have me! 